Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Rush beat SUNO, and all is Goode and Wright again

Photo Gallery: XU men's basketball vs. SUNO
Photos by Yamlak Tsega
 
NEW ORLEANS -- Guards Anthony Goode and Morris Wright combined for 41 points Monday to lead NAIA No. 21 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 60-52 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory against city rival SUNO.

Goode scored 23 points -- he made five 3-pointers to match his career high -- and Wright scored 18 to lead the Gold Rush (14-6, 3-1) to its third consecutive victory, all in conference. Goode and Wright combined to shoot 15-of-22 from the floor, 7-of-11 on 3-pointers.

Gary Smith had a career-high 10 assists for Xavier -- his previous best was five -- and Sydney Coleman grabbed a season-best 11 rebounds.

Justin Fairman made five 3-pointers for SUNO (3-11, 0-3) and was the Knights' only double-figure scorer with 17 points.

It was the fifth time this season that Xavier won after trailing at halftime. SUNO made six 3-pointers to grab a 31-29 halftime lead and extended its advantage to 38-31 on Thaddeus Fortune's 3-pointer with 15:58 remaining.

Wright scored six points during a 13-0 run which lasted nearly 7 1/2 minutes and turned SUNO's 50-45 lead into a 58-50 Xavier advantage with 1:30 remaining. Wright's 3-point play with 7:14 remaining put Xavier ahead to stay, 51-50.

Goode reached 20 points for a team-leading fourth time this season. Wright leads the Gold Rush with 16 games scoring in double figures.

The teams combined for 22 fouls and 16 turnovers. Xavier's 10 fouls were a season low, and its seven turnovers were its fewest in a game since Feb. 21, 2009. Xavier combined for 46 turnovers in its previous two games.

Xavier outshot the Knights 47.9 to 42 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 32-28. The low number of fouls resulted in few free-throw opportunities -- SUNO was 1-of-6, and Xavier was 7-of-14.

Xavier and Tougaloo moved into a tie for second place in the GCAC, one game behind Talladega. The Tornadoes improved to 4-0 in the conference with an 82-77 victory at Philander Smith.

SUNO has dropped three straight and 10 of its last 11 games.

The next Gold Rush game will start at 5 p.m. EST Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla., against GCAC opponent Edward Waters. The next XU home game will be Feb. 2.

BOX SCORE

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director 
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